A Report on the State's Law Enforcement Salary Schedule (Salary Schedule C)
July 2010
Report Number 10-707
Overall Conclusion
Salary Schedule C for state agency law enforcement positions is contained within the State's Position Classification Plan, which is part of the General Appropriations Act. Legislative action is required to make changes to it.
The results of this study are presented as an analysis of the current pay for state agency law enforcement officers, as required by Texas Government Code, Section 654.037 (b). (See Appendix 2 for additional details on the statutory requirement for the State Auditor's Office to review Salary Schedule C.)
This study's primary focus was to compare the State's direct compensation for law enforcement positions with the direct compensation paid by local Texas law enforcement departments that employ more than 1,000 commissioned law enforcement officers. Direct compensation includes base pay and various forms of supplemental pay, such as hazardous duty pay, education pay, and certification pay. The analysis showed that, to make Salary Schedule C more competitive with the market in accordance with Texas Government Code, Section 654.037 (b), changes would need to be made. Specifically:
- Comparison with market maximum pay. Texas Government Code, Section 654.037(b), requires a comparison of Salary Schedule C with market average maximum pay. Aligning Salary Schedule C with the market maximum pay would have a minimum estimated implementation cost to four state agencies of approximately $27.7 million in each year of the 2012-2013 biennium. The Department of Public Safety would bear 79.2 percent of that cost.
- Comparison with market mid-range pay. The State Auditor's Office also compared Salary Schedule C with market average mid-range pay. Aligning Salary Schedule C with the market mid-range pay would have a minimum estimated implementation cost to four state agencies of approximately $20.0 million in each year of the 2012-2013 biennium. The Department of Public Safety would bear 82.7 percent of that cost.
The fiscal year 2009 turnover rate for Salary Schedule C employees was 5.7 percent, while the overall statewide turnover rate was 14.4 percent. Turnover for Salary Schedule C employees was 32.5 percent for entry-level positions in salary group C1 (for example, Trooper Trainee; Game Warden Trainee) and 10.6 percent for positions in salary group C8 (for example, Commander, Public Safety; Major, Game Warden). (See Table 5 on page 2 in the Detailed Results section of this report for additional details.)
During the second quarter of fiscal year 2010, Texas state agencies (excluding institutions of higher education) employed 4,477 full-time classified law enforcement officers who were paid in accordance with Salary Schedule C; this represented 2.9 percent of the total state agency workforce. In fiscal year 2009:
- The State spent approximately $262.3 million on base pay, hazardous duty pay, and overtime pay for these positions. (See Table 3 on page 1 in the Detailed Results section of this report for additional details.)
- The State spent approximately $6.3 million on supplemental pay in the form of certification pay, education pay, and bilingual capability pay. (See Table 4 on page 2 in the Detailed Results section of this report for additional details.)
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